A conventional belt conveyor assembly consists of a side frame on which auxiliary components are permanently mounted to the side frame as per a particular design. The side frame of a conventional belt conveyor has a “C” shaped cross-section and fabricated by bending or forming a steel sheet. The auxiliary components of a belt conveyor assembly consists of a number of pulleys (e.g. drive pulley, two end pulleys such as head pulley and tail pulley, snub pulley, take up pulley), belt, slider beds, side guards, support legs, cross bracing, drive frame, finger guards, return roller, sensor bracket etc. In addition, a typical belt conveyor assembly has cable trunking to distribute electrical power and communication signal cables. The cable trunking is normally provided below the conveyor body, on a cross brace of the belt conveyor system.
Conventional side frame involves different types of manufacturing processes, such as cutting, bending, drilling, welding, painting, quality checking, etc. These processes are labor intensive and time consuming. Furthermore, the design of a conventional side frame and its auxiliary components are specific to a particular side frame. Therefore, a manufacturer must design a variety of conveyor assembly components, which not only involves manpower and time, but also different manufacturing processes and assemblies which are inconsistent and tedious for quality control.
Furthermore, in some conventional belt conveyor system, the auxiliary components are permanently fixed. It is not possible for example to shift the position of a drive unit along a length of conveyor. In addition, in a conventional belt conveyor system, a drive frame and a take-up frame are independent parts and require an external take-up frame for mounting them on to a drive unit, which complicates the design of the conveyor system and longer time for installation/dismantling/reinstallation processes.
In addition, a conventional belt conveyor assembly requires separate power cable trunkings or wire ways for providing power cables and communication cables, which increase labor and cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,325 B1 issued to Torsten Buenning et al on 23 Dec. 2003 describes a conveyor track and a load-bearing profile for a conveyor track. The conveyor track has two load-bearing profiles extending substantially parallel. Each load-bearing profile has one longitudinal side, to which a guide profile can be fastened. A rod for supporting rollers is fixable on the load-bearing profile by the guide profile. As a result, the rollers can be simply installed. If no rollers are used, then workpieces or workpiece holders can be slid along slide faces of the guide profile.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,957,736 B2 issued to Edgar Bonifer et al on 25 Oct. 2005 describes a conveyor for transporting load carriers, having load-bearing members which are spaced apart parallel to one another on frame parts and are intended for accommodating drivable load-bearing elements which form longitudinally running load-bearing tracks for the load carriers resting on the load-bearing elements. The conveyor may include modular-construction conveying units, and each load-bearing element of at least two laterally spaced-apart load-bearing members of each conveyor unit may comprise an endlessly circulating load-bearing belt, which bears the load carriers and which is supported on load-bearing rollers mounted on the load-bearing members. The conveyor may be provided for transporting load carriers and may be suitable for conveying the load carriers both longitudinally and transversely.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,730 B2 issued to Klaus Gerke describes a conveyor with profiled cheeks consisting of at least one profiled member that is manufactured from light metal and contains longitudinal hollow spaces that are partly realized in the form of sliding block channels, and of a cover for closing a cable channel arranged in the cheek. The profiled member has an L-shaped base cross section with an upper limb that points outward in the operative position, that a sheet metal member is mounted on the base part in order to form the lower limb of the C-shaped base cross section of the cheek, wherein the sheet metal member contains openings that are spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction, and that the cover is removably arranged on the two limbs. Cables and lines can lead into and out of the closed cable channel through the openings without having to produce openings on the profiled member or the cover by way of mechanical processing. A two-part cable channel is formed by the upper limb of the C-shaped sheet metal member used.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,735,638 B2 issued to Paul Hau et al describes a conveyor frame assembly that includes a pair of spaced side rails joined by one or more cross supports. Each of the side rails includes a dedicated wire channel and self-contained air flow cavity that enhances the functionality of the conveyor frame assembly. The air flow cavity and the wire channel are formed as part of the side rails separate from typical attachment slots that receive T-shaped connectors. The cross supports utilized with the conveyor frame assembly are attached to the side rails by upper and lower connectors that are each accessible from the top of the conveyor frame assembly. Specifically, the cross support includes a center web and laterally offset attachment webs that allow for easy and convenient construction and field modification of the conveyor frame assembly.
There is thus a need to provide a belt conveyor assembly that seeks to address one or more of the above disadvantages.